"During the Eager Lion exercise U.S. military and JAF personnel will be facilitating a humanitarian relief event led by various government and non-government organizations," said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Nathan Betcher, the civil affairs team sergeant for Alpha Company, 489th Civil Affairs Battalion in Knoxville, Tenn.
Betcher stated that the U.S. military and JAF will learn how to work together, alongside civilian relief agencies to provide assistant to refugees and internally displaced persons.
This event will teach both militaries the complexities and variables involved in humanitarian relief efforts.
"The variables involved in humanitarian efforts are what make it complex, and they include different religions, cultures, languages, social structures and legal issues." said Betcher
By various non-military organizations leading the event, it allows both militaries to see the full capabilities of the organizations so the militaries don't duplicate relief efforts.
Steve Katz, a humanitarian assistant advisor to the U.S. Military for the Office of Disaster Assistance, said, "The presentation was set up to familiarize U.S. military, JAF and Jordanian government civilians on how the U.S. government responds to overseas disasters."
During the exercise the U.S. military and Jordanian Armed forces will learn that for OFDA to respond to a crisis, a host nation must ask or be willing to accept assistance and the magnitude of a disaster exceeds a nations response capability.
"One important reason for the exercise event is to help both sides understand that for every dollar spent in problem prevention saves up to twenty-five dollars on a future solution if the humanitarian issue is not solved when it starts," said Betcher.
Bringing nations together to learn from the experiences and knowledge of each other is a great way to build camaraderie and to continue a lasting partnership.
Eager Lion 16 is a bi-lateral exercise in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan between the Jordanian armed forces and the U.S. military designed to strengthen relationships and interoperability between partner nations.
| Date Taken: | 05.21.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 05.21.2016 02:19 |
| Story ID: | 198691 |
| Location: | JO |
| Web Views: | 127 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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